Minsk Regional Court Confirms Deportation of Priest Jaroslaw Lukasik

The college board of Minsk regional court left in force the verdict of Miadzel district court for deportation of the Evangelic pastor of Ian the Precursor church Jaroslaw Lukasik. 

Mr. Lukasik had been found guilty of activity ‘aimed at harm to the state defense of Belarus in the field of religious relations’. He was ordered to leave Belarus by 7 June and banned entry for the next five years. Lukasik’s wife Natallia and three children, all of them citizens of Belarus, have emigrated from Belarus to Poland. 

Natallia Lukasik believes that the court verdict was just a formality and the real decision was taken by some authorities. ‘Under the present power my husband will not be let into Belarus’, commented Mrs. Lukasik.

Nevertheless, the Lukasiks are going to appeal the court verdict to a higher court.